OHSAA state wrestling: St. Edward wins Division I championship

St. Edward's Dean Heil holds up four fingers after winning his fourth state championship. (Joshua Gunter, The Plain Dealer)

Brecksville-Boradview Heights' Aaron Assad jumps into his coach's arms after winning the state championship at 113 pounds.

Columbus – There's no "I" in team, as they say, but there is in "individual."

The tournament formerly known as just the state wrestling tournament, now called the "individual" state wrestling tournament, added the emphasis on "I" at the right time because rarely has Ohio, and especially Greater Cleveland and Akron, produced such a cadre of accomplished individuals as those who became multiple state champions Saturday in Value City Arena.

Ohio crowned three four-time champs and five three-time champs, and five of the elite group hail from Northeast Ohio.

Dean Heil of Division I team champion St. Edward and Nathan Tomasello of Division II Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy both won their fourth state championships. Division II champ St. Paris Graham's Bo Jordan became the 25th member of the group, which also includes his father and coach, Jeff Jordan.

Despite the advent this year of the state team tournament, the OHSAA continues to award team trophies in the individual meet, and St. Edward claimed its 28th of those, to go with the team tournament title won last month.

"We didn't want to go out our senior year without a title as a team. (Massillon) Perry, Brecksville and Moeller really pushed us," said St. Edward 182-pound senior Domenic Abounader, who won his third state title.

Brecksville fell short of capturing its first team trophy. Massillon Perry edged the Bees, 105-99.5, to take home its ninth runner-up award in the last 11 years. Brecksville lost two of three championship finals, but had seven place-winners, one more than St. Edward.

"Wrestling is an individual sport. In other sports, you have your team to help you win. But when you're out there, and I was the last one wrestling, that's the best feeling there is," said Brecksville senior Aaron Assad, the 113-pound champ.

That feeling was widespread as 13,820 in attendance rose to their feet several times to celebrate a remarkable group of individuals.

"Ever since God knows when, I've dreamt of being a four-time state champion," said Heil, an Oklahoma State recruit. "It's the first thing I can finally cross off my list of things to do. The next is four-time NCAA champ."

Heil, the Eagle's fourth quadruple champ, was named the Division I Most Outstanding Wrestler.

A trio of locals became three-time state champs, all in Division I: Abounader and Solon teammates Brandon Thompson and Anthony Collica, who is Heil's future teammate at Oklahoma State.

"It was like being home," Thompson said of his third final. His brother, Kevin Hardy, also was a Solon three-time champ. "Now he and I are together."

Thompson hit a switch for a reversal with 20 seconds left to hand Olentangy Orange's Artem Timchenko his first loss, 3-1, in the 120-pound final.

Collica's early takedown proved to be the difference in a 3-1 win over St. Edward's Markus Scheidel at 152. They wrestled to the same score in last year's 145-pound final.

"I knew if I scored first, it would be big at the end of the match," Collica said. "Three (titles) means a lot. The third title was way better than the first. There were more nerves today."

While they made winning state titles look easy, the area's other Division I finalists reflected the reality.

Assad's sophomore brother, Austin, lost in the 106-pound final for the second year in a row, 6-5, to Massillon Perry's Jose Rodriguez, who broke a 5-5 tie with a third-period escape. Brecksville 160-pound senior Quinton Hiles was unable to mount an offense in a 9-3 loss to Beavercreek's Nick Corba.

Elyria junior Armando Torres was leading Aaron Assad, 3-2, until Assad bundled up Torres for a takedown and near-fall and a 7-3 win.

At 138, Madison's Nick Montgomery gave up two takedowns, then was unable to chase down Marysville's Noah Forrider, who gave up two third-period stalling points to avoid Montgomery's famous headlock in a 5-4 win.

A close call on an overtime takedown was the difference in Brunswick senior Tyler Hughes' 3-1 loss to Beavercreek's Corba in the 170 final. Maple Heights' Devin Revels fell behind, 5-0, off the opening whistle and never recovered in a 12-3 loss to Moeller's Chalmer Freuauf.

St. Edward pulled away in the team race with a 2-1 record in the points-rich consolation semifinals Saturday morning. The difference was Eagles four-time placer Edgar Bright's technical fall against Brecksville's Austin Strnad, which was worth 6.5 team points, and gave St. Edward a 104-93.5 lead over Brecksville. Bright went on to place third, going with two second-places and a sixth in his career.

Like many others who didn't reach the highest individual height, Bright collapsed in a back tunnel just off the arena floor as disappointment overwhelmed him in the end.

"That's a hard thing to do, to come back like that, but he really showed something to the team, that this guy has a lot of heart," Abounader said of Bright.

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